It is sometimes necessary to pump water from an open body of water such as a pond, a lake, a stream, etc., for purposes of firefighting, irrigation, etc., by drawing the water through a hose that has an intake end in the body of water. Such bodies of water often contain debris, such as leaves, twigs, fish, etc., that interfere with the operation of the pump or that are simply unwanted in the water being pumped. It is known to provide a strainer on the intake end of the hose to prevent debris from entering the hose. To reduce the introduction of silt or other unwanted matter from the bottom of the body of water, the intake end of the hose can be attached to a suction head assembly that includes the strainer and a float to keep the intake end of the hose near the water surface. However, it is necessary to avoid drawing air into the hose, since air reduces the efficiency of the pumping operation and, depending on the pump, may cause the pump to lose its prime and thereby become inoperable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,374 to Michael P. Ziaylek et al discloses a suction head assembly of the type mentioned. The suction head assembly comprises a pan secured onto a hose, the pan having an open mesh wire screen and being securable to a float.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,405 to Kozey discloses a floating suction head assembly for connection with fire hoses and the like. The assembly comprises a U-shaped float of hollow tubular construction. A tubular strainer is disposed between the arms of the float and has small openings along the bottom and side portions of the strainer for admitting water, but to avoid drawing air into the strainer, there are no openings on the top of the strainer. The strainer is pivotably connected to the float for pivoting motion about an axis that is perpendicular to the central axis of the strainer.